Tigers

[shags]

I purchased by Tiger new in Jan 2002, after carefully weighing up what was on the market.......I checked out the GS and thought at the time it was basically the same sized bike, with a dearer price tag.



The Tiger was great fun to ride, with the smooth engine and commanding ride position, I felt on top of the world everytime I was on the road. The Tiger was super comfy and took me to some remote areas I would not dream of taking a jap bike.  The suspension was however way too soft for my liking and although I managed to stiffen it up, I felt it could be better. After about 15,000km I had some concerns about the reliability of the bike - with the following problems encountered:



Rear shock failure (replaced under warranty - eventually)

Ongoing problems with fuel injection

Rattles in dash area

Oil leak on crankcase cover

Broken cables

Indicator lenses fell off





Last year my wife and I loaded up the Tiger and went touring for 2 weeks. Again I found the Tiger's suspension struggled to cope with the load even with the suspension adjusted to the max. The bike did tour well and the fairing gave surprising protection. The fuel economy was quite reasonable and the engine purred!!! The trip was not without incident however, with a flat tyre (major hassle after struggling to remove rear wheel) and increased oil consumption.



After a series of frustrating visits to my local dealer I bit the bullet and traded the Tiger on a new GS adventure - a big decision for us as we had to fork out quite a bit in the deal.  The Adventure is huge, and in silver looks quite intimidating. The bike is incredibly well balanced and after 8,000km it still amazes me how easy it is to ride. The finish on the GS is excellent, and the metal hard luggage is the best I have seen. The suspension gets top marks and even heavily loaded, the bike tracks perfectly.



This is not to say the Tiger was not a satisfying bike....in fact, far from it. We travelled 22,000km on the bike and it has a huge amount of heart! We do not regret buying the bike, and had many great experiences. We simply moved on and the GS seemed a good choice given it's build and reputation.

[BykBoy]

BMW is a great bike, no doubt. Every bike has good things and bad things. I'm sure you will find things you don't like about the big pig. I'm also sure you will find things you love about it (looks like you already have...). I wish you great fortune and fun with it.



As for me, this is my second fat cat. I had some problems (broken clutch cable, broken clutch return spring, minor electrical issue). No big deal, as long as I can hear that wonderful triple.



I'd love to own a big GS and a 950 Adv. and a Capo Nord, and a DL 1000 and... some day. But for now, the cat does the trick for me.

[BigDave]

Sounds like a familar story from begining to end......

[Guest]

Just two things :-



1/ the shock is fine solo. AFAIK it's a Kayaba unit. The harder you use it the quicker it will wear out. When mine goes it will be replaced with an Ohlins or WP but it's still fine after 20K miles.  Very few bikes cope with a passenger & luggage without needing a stiffer spring. Indeed, my R100GS was soggy solo on the standard spring!! An Ohlins changed that.

2/ how the hell do you hear rattles in the dash area when you're riding??

[Brock]

Good luck with the beemer shags (nice name). I tried one but didn't get on with it. You'll no doubt be buying some form of leg protection to minimise damage from the pots when you're wheeling it around car parks. Oh, and don't forget the brakes are a little ineffective when the engine's off. Don't want it rolling away from you on a slope.

I just wish my tigger had the same build quality as the GS.